Sagarejo shooting

In the early morning hours of 20 January 2023, a mass shooting occurred in Sagarejo, a town in the Kakheti region of Georgia. A man opened fire from his apartment balcony using an automatic weapon, killing four people and wounding five others. A police officer, Chief Lieutenant Otar Gvinashvili, responded to the scene and was also fatally shot. The shooting ended when the perpetrator fatally shot himself in the head shortly after additional police teams and a special unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia arrived.

The perpetrator was identified as 49-year-old Nodar Atuashvili (1974 – 20 January 2023), a former member of Georgia's armed forces who served from 2006 to 2021, including a deployment in Afghanistan. It was determined that Atuashvili had been inside the building with his adult son, who fled when the shooting began. As of the available reporting, a motive for the shooting had not been established and remained under investigation.

Vakhtang Gomelauri, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia, issued a statement on the day of the shooting confirming that the perpetrator had fatally shot five people, including a police officer, and wounded five others before killing himself with a firearm. The statement disclosed the suspect's birth year but did not provide further identifying details at that time.

The shooting prompted condolences from several Georgian political figures. Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili expressed sorrow over the loss of life, including that of the "hero police officer," and wished the wounded a speedy recovery. President Salome Zourabichvili mourned the police officer who died "performing his professional duties." Irakli Kobakhidze, chairman of the Georgian Dream party, and Shalva Papuashvili, Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia, also honored the slain officer alongside the civilian victims. Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze said he was "struck by the tragedy."

The United States Embassy in Georgia also issued a statement mourning the deaths and expressing condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims, while praying for the recovery of those injured.